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Aug 25, 2021Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Theological reflection, assurance and the doctrine of God
Maake J. Masango
John D. White
Abstract
This article focuses on the anxiety about whether God loves one or not. In the author’s nearly 30-year ministry, this pastoral difficulty continues to perplex and afflict. While the presenting problem is what in theological parlance is ‘a lack of assurance’, a side difficulty is the poor and incorrect doctrine of God often associated with this. A Baylor University Study in 2006 characterises the kind of God that different groups of Americans believe in. While the phrase ‘a lack of assurance’ is a part of dogmatic parlance, and has fallen out of use, the feeling of not belonging to God can be overwhelming for people. This feeling may be overwhelming. This makes it a pastoral issue. This article suggests a pastoral response to this issue and a proposal for a clarification in the nature and character of God using the therapeutic theology of 19th-century Scottish minister-theologian John McLeod Campbell.
